Methane catalytic decomposition (hereinafter MCD) has been widely studied as an alternative way of methane steam reforming (MSR) to produce hydrogen, because MCD reaction does not produce CO or CO2 as by-products, the need for water-gas shift and CO2-removal stages, as required in conventional MSR, is eliminated. Further, except the pure hydrogen produced from this process, the co-produced carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) have also been investigated extensively because of their excellent properties and great potentials for many utilization purposes.
However, because of the catalysts deactivation issue, this process is still far away from the industrialization. Since the main products of MCD are solid carbon and hydrogen gas, the formed carbon will definitely cover the active metal surface and/or block the support pore, thus finally deactivate the catalyst. Some have regenerated the catalysts by burning off the deposited carbon. However, this kind of regeneration of deactivated catalysts will lead to CO2 production and also may result in contamination of hydrogen. Therefore, the design of a stable MCD catalyst is the priority for this process.